Expert review of The Circus

Last updated 24 November 2010

Stroll around Bath’s beautiful Georgian Circus.

The Royal Crescent might get all the attention, but the nearby Circus is just as an impressive piece of architecture. John Wood the Elder began the project in 1754, but it was ultimately finished by his son John Wood the Younger in 1768. Even today it’s an awesome sight – three rows of terraced houses form a circle around the centre, which was originally envisaged as some kind of sports arena, but is now a grassed area with London Plane trees on it. Celebrities are rumoured to live here and I do my best to look out for Johnny Depp and Nicholas Cage – certainly in the past William Pitt resided here while he was Prime Minister. By all accounts Wood the Younger was a bit of an early hippy as he was interested in druids and from above the Circus and Royal Crescent form a full sun and crescent moon shape (the druid signs for male and female energy) - they also form a key, which was a Masonic emblem. Brock Street, which connects the two, is said to be on a ley-line that runs from Stonehenge and the Circus was designed around the same shape as the stone circle there.

Expert tips:

Watch out for moving traffic – people live in these houses and the road is well-used.

Try and go at sunset as the Bath stone turns a beautiful golden colour in the dying light.

Look up! The giant acorns on top of the houses are my favourite part of The Circus.